Time to Kick the Dog Out
by zosimos
Summary: Musebox: Bedtime.


It wasn't hard to entice Edward to bed in the winter - most of the time he beat Kenshin there, buried under the mound of blankets that made up the left side of the bed. Edward owned more blankets than Kenshin thought a person truly needed, but Edward insisted without fail that each and every one was piled on the bed at the beginning of October and they lasted until spring.

Kenshin didn't need that many blankets, he tended to suffocate under them - but he put up with as much as he could for Edward. Of course, if half the blankets got kicked off in the middle of the night no one could blame him, he was asleep after all.

This evening Edward was curled up in his nest, sitting upright. He'd since finished the book that Kenshin had gotten him for Christmas - Sariel absconded with it, Edward had muttered derisively, but didn't go to retrieve his wandering property - and was now reading one that Kenshin had seen him working through before, a bound text of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. He tossed his shirt in the hamper. "How goes the symbol-reading?"

"Slow," Edward murmured, looking up. He looked tired, worn-out ... almost a little sick. Kenshin frowned, maybe it was the light. Edward rubbed his eye with his hand and yawned. "At least it's not hieratic, that's even more of a fucking bitch to read."

Kenshin sat on the bed on Edward's side, and Edward looked at him quizzically. "You feeling all right?" This close, he was right, Edward did look fatigued.

"I'm fine," Edward said, obviously curious at Kenshin's concern. "Just a little tired." Kenshin cupped his face, resting his thumb at the corner of Edward's mouth. Edward sighed and tilted his head into Kenshin's touch, eyes drifting to half-mast. Kenshin tilted his head in to Edward's, and they kissed gently.

Suddenly, unexpectedly Edward's kiss turned needy. His automail hand snaked around Kenshin's shoulders, drawing him forward. Kenshin twisted to go with it, crawling on the bed atop of Edward, their mouths barely breaking contact. Kenshin leaned forward, resting most of his weight on one arm and he dragged the book out from between them, dropping it over the side of the bed. "Careful," Edward said, breaking contact enough to worry over Kenshin depositing his notes.

And then, as Kenshin shifted again, the sheets grunted.

Kenshin paused in confusion, and then from beside Edward Hermes wiggled out from under the sheets. Kenshin sighed, exasperated, as Edward laughed. Hermes turned about, glared at Kenshin, and then growled at him.

"Hermes, get off the bed," Edward ordered between snickers. "Down."

The dog looked injured. He sat his butt on the bed and scratched at his ear, then shook his head briskly. It was clear that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Damn it," Kenshin said, before starting to get up off of Edward. "I'll get him."

"He's just a dog," Edward said, catching Kenshin's arm.

"I don't care," Kenshin said. "In this house you never know for certain."

Edward sighed, still clearly amused, as Kenshin reached over to grab Hermes by the scruff of his neck. The dog ducked his grab, dove off the bed and scrambled under it. "Dammit." Kenshin leaned over the far side of the bed to glower at the corgi hiding just out of reach. "You really think you're clever, don't you?"

Hermes barked an affirmative.

"The dog understands English," Kenshin reported, still hanging upside down over the side of the bed.

"It's a dog, Himura," Edward said. Kenshin felt the bed shift as Edward moved, and pushed up off the ground to climb back onto the bed proper. "Why don't you like my dog?"

"It's not that I don't like your dog," Kenshin said. "It doesn't like me."

"Hermes likes you just fine," Edward said. He had pushed aside several layers of blankets and now was up on his knees. He pushed Kenshin back and Kenshin leaned back against the headboard as Edward kissed him. "'cause I like you."

"Mm," Kenshin said as Edward knelt between his sprawled open legs. "Whatever you say, Ed." His hands settled on Edward's hips as they kissed more. Edward pressed the heel of his palm over Kenshin's groin, the other hand flattening on the wall beside Kenshin's head. Kenshin grunted and looked down between them, his own hands traveling south to Edward's ass where he could grip it securely.

Edward's scent, this close, as he stroked Kenshin through the tough fabric of his jeans. The muscles of his back, firm under Kenshin's fingers as he kneaded just above the start of Edward's ass. The bed shifted again, the box spring complaining already, and then Kenshin's eyes flew open as Hermes landed on his legs, growling.

"For fuck's sake-" Kenshin said as Edward twisted, scowling. "Hermes! Bad dog!"

There was a bit of a scramble as Edward and Kenshin attempted to untangle enough to grab the dog, who weaved around them, yipping and occasionally snapping at Kenshin if he got the chance. Edward scooped Hermes up his arms - the dog tried to wiggle away, whining furiously - and deposited him outside the bedroom door, then shut it firmly.

Kenshin still sat on the bed, inspecting his foot where Hermes had gotten a brief hold on him. "See?" Kenshin said defensively. "Doesn't like me."

"He sleeps on us all the time and there's never a problem," Edward pointed out, sitting on the bed next to Kenshin. Kenshin huffed and dropped his foot, but didn't complain when Edward leaned over to kiss him again. He moved on top of Edward again, his hands sliding up under the sweatshirt Edward wore for warmth in the winter and pulling it up over his head.

Edward grinned hugely as Kenshin pushed him down against the nest of blankets. "No more interruptions?" Kenshin said, looming over Edward. Edward hooked the ankle of his automail leg behind Kenshin's knee and dragging him down on top of him.

"No more interruptions," Edward promised, his voice low. Kenshin grinned fiercely and began to work on removing Edward's pants.


End file.
